Welcome to TimersSports
This week we head to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 600! Usually taking the best drivers available here will make for an excellent outing in terms of fantasy points. However knowing what the scoring is in your respected league will be just as important as your lineup.
Typically at Charlotte, it important to run big guns as they will dominate most of Sunday's race. But don't be shocked to see a few surprises finish in or near the top 10. This race could come down to fuel mile and if it does you could score big with the right pieces.
Busts (or fantasy disappointments) are always harder to spot and predict. Mainly because it usually based on current momentum and/or past track data. Honestly it pretty much a stab in the dark on a weekly basis. Kinda why I may revamp this column eventually!
Sleepers -
Aric Almirola: Knowing your scoring format and rules are extremely important, especially with sleepers options such as Almirola. Depending on your league, Aric should be a super fine underrated fantasy option. Yahoo! players should be jumping on this kind of value. Few options in B-list grouping tier brings the consistency he does. The key to success is reliability usually. Aric doesn't have any Top 10s in 6 career starts. However have 4 Top 20s. Including 3 Top 15s. Honestly he have had only one bad race. Realistically the best you can hope from him is an top 15. That's probably the only reason you would consider him. As I said before don't ever underestimate the value of an top 15 finish.
Paul Menard: I believe Menard's value is running thinner at this point in the season. Most of this is because his inconsistency of late. However he have ran significantly better than he was earlier in the season. In basic terms, his performance have improved while his reliability have decreased. He doesn't have stout track record at Charlotte, but he did finish inside the top 10 last season though. The past 2 night races on this type track (Texas and Kansas) , Menard have been impressive. Before having setbacks in both races. He was running inside the top 5. If he can put together a full race, then he would be a solid top 10 or top 12 option.
AJ Dinger: The Dinger been way better than most people realize! He more known for his potential on road courses and short tracks. However he been solid on the 1.5 mile tracks in 2015. In 4 races, he have an 12.0 average finish with 3 Top 15 finishes. Including 2 Top 10s. He isn't a great qualifier which hurt his stat line overall. I like Dinger a lot at Charlotte because cars usually get strung out fairly quickly! Only take one good pit stop to get decent track position. I am not saying he is a sure thing, but he been solid on this type track all season. Something that caught my attention at the All-Star Race though! Not how AJ Dinger performed, but what Crew Chief Brian Burns said afterwards. He said they're heading in the right direction with their intermediate program. That alone tells me they're making strides with their performances. Hopefully the results shows it on Sunday.
Busts -
Denny Hamlin: Hamlin have a strong track record at Charlotte! 11 Of his 19 career starts have ended inside the top 10. Unfortunately he gotten inconsistent results on the Intermediate tracks. Only 1 Top 10 in 5 races (Cali,Texas,Vegas,Atlanta and Kansas) this season. Actually only one top 15 too (2 technically.) His average running position is 11.8, but hard to trust someone who fades late in races. Realistically I think Hamlin is way too deep of a option to trust. The biggest reason is his inconsistency and lack of raw speed.
Carl Edwards - Honestly I tried to think of reasons to leave Edwards off this list. But I couldn't! In 11 races, he only have one top 10 finish. Edwards always have the potential, but that pretty much it. Until he proves himself, I think it wiser to stay away from him. Unfortunately time is timing on this season. We are only 6 races away from halfway point in the 2015 season! For Edwards it may be now or never.
Email - Briggs_garry48@yahoo.com
Twitter - @Garryy12
